a devotion for Palm Sunday

According to the World Book Encyclopedia, Palm Sunday is a moveable feast in the Christian calendar which falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates an event reported by all four Canonical Gospels (Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19.)

This Sunday before Easter (also referred to as Passion Sunday) remembers Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem near the end of a public ministry.

When Jesus entered the city with his group of followers, people laid palm branches on the road before him and greeted him as the long-awaited Messiah, shouting, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Their celebrating didn’t last long. As they heard his teachings and saw his behavior over the next few days, both religious leaders and people on the streets turned against Jesus. Many in the admiring crowds who were shouting “Hosanna!” turned to shouting “Crucify him!”

So here is my confession. I have a hard time connecting emotionally to Palm Sunday because the Bible text describes people who'd become hypocrites. They were throwing palm branches and praising Jesus one day and shouting for his death the next. But that wasn't hypocrisy - that was just humankind being fickle. Like me, those people were volatile. They praised the Lord on Sunday, denied Him on Thursday and begged for His murder on Friday. The text doesn’t state this, but I imagine that they second guessed their actions by the next Sunday. They were influenced by their peers while in the crowd facing Pilate. They feared for their own safety. They were happy when they were healed, or had their own needs met.

Palm Sunday hooks me because it seems to be the date that humanity's weakness is recognized. Palm Sunday points to people in all of their unpredictability and flightiness. Palm Sunday asks me to examine the condition of my own heart. Palm Sunday gives me the opportunity to examine my own faithfulness to Christ.

It is rather easy to strive towards piety when everything seems to be going well but when unexpected drama happens, what then? When we have to endure incessantly through physical or spiritual pain, what then? When God seems distant and all is dark and dejected, what then? When life seems unfilled and aimless, what then? Has our faith rooted itself deeply enough to help us cope with these situations, so that they do not control us?

Palm Sunday shines a bright spotlight on the fact that I need help. A lot of help. ..right now. I need to know if there is hope.

Palm Sunday points ahead to the hope that is on the horizon…wait for it…

a post for the move toward Easter

This is a short devotion that I put together for Ash Wednesday. While it is no longer timely, it makes sense with the other pieces that I will post here beginning this weekend.

For Christians around the world, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. (Easter is March 23 this year.) These 40 weekdays signify the time Jesus spent in the wilderness. The season of Lent can also be a time when Christians devote themselves to introspection and reflection.

Many Christians choose to mark the season of Lent with prayer and fasting. Other Christians during this time give up meat, alcohol and other types of food.

Ash Wednesday derives from the Latin, dies cinerum, which means 'day of ashes'. The use of the ashes comes from the Old Testament image of men who turned away from their sins, and showed their decision by wearing ashes and clothing their bodies with sackcloth. In a practical way, they showed their true selves, and the true desire of their hearts.

So, does this day have any significance for those of us who do not attend a Catholic, Episcopalian or Methodist church?

I believe that it does.

I believe that it can be particularly meaningful for Woodcrest.

One of the main values that we hold and promote is the value of authenticity. We describe it in several different ways. We speak of the need to live life transparently, without masks or personas. We even describe ourselves as a community of helped people helping people. That means that we embrace the fact that we are all damaged, rebellious, and fearful people, who are learning to grasp onto the unconditional love of a Christ who has promised not to harm us, even in our most tenuous state.

We are people who have metaphorically put ashes on our heads, and stepped out of our “show clothes” to allow the world to see us as we really are.

And in that process, we find the same thing that Jesus found in His 40 days in the wilderness. That we are never truly alone. That our Father in Heaven is trustworthy, and will protect us. That it is not only OK, but it is better to live as our true broken selves, in the light of God’s grace.

So should you put some ashes on your forehead today? Maybe. It won’t hurt anything.

But you might also consider taking some time today to slip away out of your regular routine and take a few minutes to talk to God. To talk without worrying if you are saying or doing things right. To talk as someone who is tired of pretending to be something that you are not. To talk like someone who is willing to (quietly and privately) identify yourself as a person who will embrace the idea of living as your true self, in the belief that God will welcome and embrace the true you.

Give it a try. Who knows what might happen?

Time to dust this off andsee if it will start up again...kind of like my lawnmower.

Oy!

So long between posts...

I thought that I would share some of my most visited sites. The first three are cool spots for theological education and challenging listening.

The last two are for to laugh until you pee your pants.

You can choose the ones that best fit your needs today.

http://covenantseminary.edu/worldwide/
Covenant Worldwide:

* Offers free downloads of Covenant Theological Seminary courseware and study guide materials.
* Encourages the sharing and distribution of its material for non-commercial purposes in order to serve and equip God's people throughout the world.

The courseware posted on this site comprises an assortment of classes from Covenant Seminary's master's degree programs. Their selection is designed to provide a broad, foundational knowledge of the Scriptures as well as guidance for engaging a variety of ministry contexts through the study of church history, doctrine and practice.


http://www.ccel.org/
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
A steadily-growing library of 14th-20th Century public domain texts by well-known Christian thinkers. This site includes documents by Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Soren Kierkegaard, Dante, C.H. Spurgeon and more.

http://christianaudio.com/
Scroll down the left side to the page to the link for a free monthly download. Great stuff …


http://mrdeity.com/
Simply genius. Makes me larf out loud.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_X5uR7VC4M
You Suck at Photoshop. A gift from my friend Brad. Some of the best teaching on the net. Do not click if you are easily offended. (But if you are easily offended, why are you reading this blog?)

Blind Science vs. Blind Faith: Some Thoughts on Breaking the Deadlock

I felt that this article was so thoughtful and articulate that it was worth re-posting in it's entirety. It was prepared by Dallas Willard. You can access more of this type of material at dwillard.org. Enjoy, and feel free to post comments.

Bill

Blind Science vs. Blind Faith: Some Thoughts on Breaking the Deadlock

Students in our colleges and universities live constantly in a tension between two authority systems: one more or less vaguely associated with science and the other with religion. Both systems are “blind” in the sense that the edicts they impose on thought and behavior are never, for the vast majority of people, reduced to anything close to understanding, verification, or proof. An illustration comes from a recent experience reported by one of my students.

This student was walking across campus with a professor whose field is religious studies. In their conversation, the student happened to mention the resurrection of Christ. The professor's response: The resurrection is inconsistent with the laws of physics. Now, in fact, the laws of physics lie at a considerable conceptual distance from phenomena such as human death and decay and their possible reversal. This particular professor in any case, would have little if any idea where to begin showing that resurrection conflicts with physics—or why it matters, if it does conflict. Indeed, who would? Very few, I would imagine. "Science" was vaguely invoked to end the discussion, just as in other contexts, "religion" is used for the same purpose.

But then the professor probably will never be confronted with the task of actually demonstrating how the resurrection is inconsistent with the laws of physics. The student in question, an extremely bright as well as devout young man, was too gracious (and perhaps stunned) to force the issue; and certainly he would have found it difficult to show that the resurrection and physics are not inconsistent or why it doesn't matter if they are.

It is painful to observe that our culture provides no friendly meeting place for the authorities of science and religion to engage in good‑faith efforts to understand the truth about our life and our world. How many people seek or find the preparation required to deal profitably with issues such as resurrection and the laws of physics? To be genuinely open to truth and able to seek it effectively is surely one of the greatest human attainments. I am convinced that it can come only as a gift of grace. It implies faith in a cosmic context where one no longer feels the need to hide, to invoke explanations that really explain nothing at all but simply enable one to hold a position with an appearance of reasonableness.

The professor who invoked physics is surrounded constantly with things and events for which no physical explanation yet exists, nor even the beginnings of one. Just look at the physics texts and see. A most obvious case is the existence of the physical universe itself, as well as of life and human consciousness. When confronted with the de facto inability of physics in this respect, the academically sanctified dodge is to invoke chance, along with huge spans of time, for everything to "work," and further, to invoke the promise of what science (really, physics) supposedly will be able to explain in the future as it continues to make progress. But chance is not something that can produce or explain anything. Rather, it is invoked precisely at the point where there is no known explanation or cause. And if something is, indeed, impossible, it will not help to have more time to get it done. We need a demonstration of the possibility, for example, of life's emerging from the inorganic, and then we can talk about time. But the assumptions of this "scientific" evasion are so complicated and culturally protected that most people confronting it do not realize they have been handed intellectual sawdust instead of bread.

Unfortunately, religion frequently invokes its own non‑explanations as a means of holding its ground. Usually these involve the idea that God's power is so great that we can say with reference to anything simply that He did it and thus have an explanation that protects us. There's no need to look further or think further.

Now God's act as an explanatory principle has an advantage over chance in that we all know something of what it is like for an act or choice to bring something about. Nothing comparable can be said of chance. Personality is a source of energy and causation with an intelligible structure. It simply is not a physical structure. But there is no good reason it should be, and once you think about it, every reason it should not. For if it were, the fundamental feature of human life and consciousness would be destroyed or reduced to illusion. As long as we recognize that knowledge does not reduce to physics, and as long as we understand that science is just knowledge, we have every right to speak of the possibility of a science that encompasses consciousness in divine and human forms along with the physical and whatever else there may be.

The impasse of authorities confronting authorities (or intimidating others) begins to dissolve when prepared and thoughtful people devote themselves to the humble examination of facts and evidence rather than to defending their positions. It is difficult to imagine anything more necessary and Godlike than this. We must escape the cultural deadlock that is turning universities—and churches—into places of “right views,” rather than thought and knowledge, and producing a Christian personality split into a religious side and a professional, intellectual side which never come into contact.

Important work of reconciliation needs to be done. Progress is possible if a vast number of Christians, devoted and qualified, will permeate all dimensions of society and bring the Spirit and power of Christ to bear upon the points where the authority structures of the intellectual professions are in blind conflict with genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

The trip to Holland and England

Friday September 28, 2007

9:59 p.m. Amsterdam time

So I’m sitting here in Amsterdam Holland, at the Prins Hendrik bar, nursing a Heineken (brewed four blocks over) and trying to assimilate all that has happened in the last 24 hours. For a kid that lived in a trailer growing up, this is pretty surreal by anyone’s standards. But it is sure not a bad way to go.

First of all, no apologies for grammar or syntax. Jet lag is catching up in a big way, and I want to get all of this written down before I lose it out of my increasingly fatigued mind.

Sept. 27 The Departure

Thanks to brother Tim Davis, we have an easy ride over to Lambert Airport in St. Louis. Kissing Jody and the kids goodbye was so hard, that everything else about this trip will be easy by comparison. We begin the check in process when the first unexpected blessing happens. We get this terrific gate agent named Colleen, who is not only a delight to work with, but makes sure that each one of us gets credit for the miles that we are flying. She makes sure that those who have accounts get credited, and those of us who do not have accounts start accounts so that we can begin to accrue miles. Moreover, she looks at my ticket from Houston to Amsterdam and realizes that I am assigned a middle seat. So she takes it upon herself to make sure that I get assigned a window seat instead. Colleen has my everlasting gratitude.

The flight from St. Louis to Houston was on one of the Continental Express planes. I don’t know what the number is, but it is one of the models with two seats on one side of the plane and one seat on the other. Read: very, very small.

The majority of the flight itself was uneventful, and very smooth. The only wrinkle was the descent into Houston. The weather was overcast in Houston, but the pilot brought us down for a very smooth landing, and we taxied almost all the way around Bush Intl. to our gate. After we finally parked at our gate, one lady got on her cell phone and remarked to the other party that we had driven the last leg from Dallas.

After a quick bite at the airport restaurant (one of the worst quesadillas that I have ever tried to eat) we boarded the flight for Amsterdam. And wonderful Colleen back in St. Louis had fixed me up with a great seat. This was much larger plane, with a middle row of three seats and a row of two seats on either side. I was on the window. And. There. Was. No. One. Beside Me!

…until the very last moment. At what must have been the last second before that doors closed, a young woman, and came, of course, to the seat next to me.

I put on my grumpy face, read my USA Today, and hoped that she would seek out another seat. But, no, she stored her stuff in the bin overhead MY seat and took the chair beside me.

Once we were airborne, I introduced myself and learned her name. My heart really wasn’t in it, but we had prayed for divine meetings, so I assumed that this might be one. I had no idea.

I learned that she was an artist and painter out of Portland OR what has attained a level of local notoriety. When I asked her about Voodoo Donuts, she knew exactly where I was talking about. In fact, she had information about donut varieties that they didn’t even talk about on the show. (See Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Portland.)

I also learned that she taught art classes to schizophrenic men and women who were part of an inpatient program there in Portland. So we discussed the challenges of teaching, and ended up having a very engaging conversation.

After supper my clonazepam kicked in, and I finally fell asleep for about four hours. Woke up just in time for breakfast and coffee, and a much smoother descent into Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Day One

Friday Sept. 29.

We were met at the gate by Marie and Eva. It was so great to see Marie again. I didn’t realized how much I missed her until I had the chance to give her a big hug and tell her that you guys all sent your love. I was not aware of this, but this is Marie’s first trip to Amsterdam too. Eva has come to visit her in Paris, but Marie has never been to Amsterdam.

So, we gathered up all of our stuff, got our rail passes, and jumped onto the train to go to our hotel. We are staying at the Prins Hendrik hotel. It is most famous for that fact that jazz trumpeter Chet Baker (who I am a big fan of) died in this hotel in 1982. He either jumped out of the window or was thrown out, depending on whose version you believe. The room is directly across the hall from the room that Pieter and I are sharing, and even has a plaque on it.

http://www.hotel-prinshendrik.nl/

Despite that seedy aside, the Prins is a very nice hotel, with great staff and surprisingly comfortable rooms. However, you have to get used to the fact that your room key has to be inserted into a power slot in your room for the electricity to work. Apparently, this is the rule throughout this part of Europe. Also, if you choose to use the stairs instead of the lift (elevator), you need to know that the pitch of the steps is more like climbing a ladder.

Once checked in, we set out on a walking tour of the area. Four of the seven of us have been in Amsterdam before, so they knew some great paths to take. The energy and vibe and ambiance of Amsterdam is exactly what I hoped that it would be. The architecture is amazing, very northern European. The houses are tiny and quaint. There are at least a dozen different languages going on around you at any one time. And yet, there is absolutely no language barrier, as it seems that everyone is fluent in English. It is the most multicultural, interesting, vibrant city that I have ever been in. I have already fallen in love with Amsterdam.

We had a little time before our meeting with the Zolder50 folks, so we took one of the many canal boat rides around the city. Much in the same way we rode the trolley around Savannah, the boats take you through the canals. You see all of the great architecture, neighborhood, and over 1800 bridges throughout the city. Many photos taken.

We met the Zolder50 folks for lunch. Zolder50 is the group that Eva Ellingsworth is working with over here in Amsterdam. We met their leadership group, and enjoyed lunch in a great café that is part of the YWAM (Youth with a Mission) building.

www.dwazezaken.nl

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this part of the city. We are right in the heart of downtown, across from the Amsterdam Central Train Station. Bustling is the only verb that can adequately describe the energy. People are on foot and on bikes. Bikes everywhere. Lots and lots of bikes. Bike lanes right next to pedestrian lanes. And mopeds. Very few real motorcycles, But lots of mopeds. And trains. And trolleys. And enough cars to make you think twice about stepping into the street.

For supper, we stopped at one of the many pannenkoek houses. Yep, us ‘mericans would call it the Pancake house. But think more likes crepes. You can get them sweet (fruits, sugar, jellies) or savory (meats, cheeses, sauces.) More like pizzas with a wonderfully soft, light and thin crust. Superb food.

We were headed for Zolder50’s leadership meeting later. So we walked over, and found that they were not quite all there yet. European view of time is much different than ours. We had time to kill, so we ducked into the bar that was right next door.

We met a fellow named Case, who is a civil engineer here in Amsterdam. Only his company recently relocated his job to Utrecht, which is a 90 minute train ride away. Now for us, a 90 minute train ride is do-able. But over here, it is almost unheard of. Case is viewed as a sort of super-commuter. But then Case informed me that his prior job was as a council member of the Dutch Beer Consumers Union! Once the blinding white light cleared (did anyone else see that?) I declared Case to be my hero and personal life coach. All kidding aside, he was a great guy and just added to the parade of colorful, kind, and interesting people that we have met.

P.S. I’m finishing this at the breakfast table on Saturday morning the 29^th. I tried to finish this long missive last night in the lobby, but a homeless, high hippie from California decided that he was thrilled to meet another American. So once I extracted myself from that conversation with Cheech and Chong’s dimwitted cousin, I decided that it was time to give into jet lag and go to sleep. We are off this morning to visit the Ann Frank house, and later a prayer walk through the city. Will write more tonight.

Love you with all of my heart,

Dad

Sunday, September 30, 2007

8:32 a.m. on a train to Lelystad

Hope that you have had a chance to read my previous email. Now, we have about 40 minutes on this train ride from Amsterdam to Lelystad. I’ll try to recap yesterday’s (Saturday 29^th) events.

BTW, the Dutch countryside looks amazingly similar to the Midwest that we know. Only greener…

Sleep did not come easy Friday night. I thought that I would be wiped out from the trip, and physically I was. But my body was so confused that I had some real difficulty falling asleep. So I found myself staring at the ceiling of our hotel room at 4:00 in the morning. The partying drunks rolling by outside didn’t help either. So I lay in bed until 6:00, and finally decided to get up. After reading the English language newspaper, finishing the previous email, and having a great breakfast in the hotel, I was ready to go.

Saturday 29th

Crystal Morris, Debbie Waggoner and I started the day by visiting the Ann Frank Museum. We got there early, as Deb said that the line stretched around the corner last time that the group came to visit. It was rainy and overcast, and the weather stayed the same the rest of the day.

The Ann Frank museum is quite remarkable. I was surprised at how deeply I was affected by what I saw. The museum itself is built over and around the original Frank home. The way that it is constructed, you start at the floor of the warehouse, and slowly make your way upstairs until you finally end up in the attic rooms where the families were hiding until they were betrayed and arrested. The effect is that the journey becomes more and more claustrophobic. To realize that they literally lived in these small rooms in this very old canal house for over two years…

At the end of the tour, everyone is absolutely quiet. No one hushes you, there is just nothing appropriate that you can say. I would not say that it is a fun or a nice visit, but I can’t imagine missing this experience while you are here.

The rain let up for a little bit, so we walked through one of the many shopping streets, just seeing what was available and soaking up the local color.

Eva met us at the hotel at 11:00 and we walked down to the Dam. The Dam is one of the many squares in town surrounded by amazing cathedrals and architecture. One of the main old churches is now a museum called Held. We stuck our heads in just to see the place, but the tour cost 10 Euros, so we decided to pass on that. We just began conversational prayer as we walked through the Dam. Eva said that this is one of the main areas where they do simple outreach events. We walked through the Leidespliean area, where another church called Ethnos was setting up a tent for some DJ’s to spin and an area for breakdancers. (which is apparently still big over here.) Later on to Vondle Park, which is like Central Park here in Amsterdam.

Finally we ended up walking through a part of the Red Light district, stopping at a place called the Cleft. The Cleft is an outreach post set up by YWAM in the Red Light district. The Cleft reached out to the men and women who work in the district, as well as the “vacationers” who visit the area by the hundreds. Despite the sex workers being recognized, licensed and tested by the government, the end effect is that the area is about as sexy as visiting a car wash. The rates of drug addiction and alcoholism are sky high among the workers. Not to mention that the whole area, for all of its flashy promotion, feels absolutely soul crushing. There is simply no quality of life and no joy in the area. It feels dark and oppressive.

In the middle of our prayer walk, we decided to grab lunch at the Hard Rock Café Amsterdam. Jet lag was catching up with me in a big way, and I found myself nodding off, wondering if I had been asleep for 2 seconds or for 10 minutes. It seemed like the conversations were roughly in the same place as when I had nodded off, so I didn’t think that I had missed much. Marie got a big laugh at my expense.

We finished our walk back at Leidespliean, where Ethnos was spinning music and allowing passers by to paint on large canvasses (drywall, actually) that they had erected.

We were also joined today by Alexi, who lived with Lynda and Steve Baumgartner as a student during his teenaged years. Lynda refers to him as her French son. His is originally from the Lyon area in France, and now works in Frankfurt Germany doing marketing research for Panasonic Corporation. He’s a great guy with a dry sense of humor.

The late afternoon consisted of a Crystal, Pieter and I taking a long walking tour of Albertheijn stores, which are the Dutch equivalent of Hy-vee. Pieter was on the hunt for Stroop, which is this molasses/syrup type of concoction to put on pannekoeken . At the third store, we finally found some.

In the evening we went over to Eva’s apartment, where about a dozen of the Zolder50 folks fixed us pannekoeken and we hung out to get to know each other. Met some great folks, like Xander, who is a doctoral student in environmental policy, Marko, Girard, Jannie, Naomi (originally from Ft. Collins CO) several others. We had a fun evening talking and eventually playing a game of progressive charades. (Sounds dorky, but was actually a ton of fun. We literally laughed until we cried.) Saturday evening put a much more positive spin on the whole day.

Then back to the Prins Hendrik for a fairly early night. Sleep aid and another pillow made for a much needed good night of sleep.

(We are pulling into Lelystad. I will write about today’s (Sunday) events tonight before I go to bed.)

I love you more than words can express…

Dad

Sunday 30^th

Today started early with a 40 minute train ride up to Lelystad. (Do a Google Earth, you will see it.) We went up to visit Depijler church, which is one of Woodcrest’s earliest contacts here in the Netherlands.

www.depijler.nl

One of the interesting things about Lelystad is that the area is only about 50 years old. Prior to that, the entire area was under water. It was drained about 50 years ago, and the town of Lelystad was built on the new land.

The sun was out today, a rarity for this time of year in Holland. So the train ride up was great this morning. We saw two stereotypical Dutch windmills, along with several very high tech windmills. Other than that, the ride looked very much like Midwestern farm land, only with much smaller farms.

One of the things that I learned today is that there are two Hollands. There is Amsterdam Holland, and then there is everywhere else. The nearest example that I can offer is that if someone’s impression of the USA came only from visiting Las Vegas, that perception would obviously be skewed. And people from outside of Amsterdam are quick to point this out.

When we arrived in Lelystad, we were greeted by Dorina, Hennie, and several others who had hosted Woodcrest people in their homes on previous visits. There were a lot of warn hugs, and some tears. It felt very much like a homecoming, and was delightful. These folks fell over themselves loving on us.

Depijler church is very much like Woodcrest. In fact, in its early days it was referred to as Little Willow Creek. They serve about 700 folks, and there services are very similar to ours. Only in Dutch.

It was quite a strange sensation listening to familiar worship choruses being sung in Dutch. Recognizable, yet altogether different.

This past Friday and Saturday, they had been a host site for the Willow creek Global Leadership Summit. So they were still riding on a Summit high. The service focused on children, much like our recent Think Orange series. It began with a very beautiful moment…a young pregnant woman came out, sat in a rocking chair, and sang a song in Dutch to her unborn child. I don’t know what the words were, but I think that I know exactly what she was singing.

Actually, they tried very hard to accommodate non Dutch speakers by providing headphones, through which you could hear an English (or French) interpreter. But there were two problems. First, the volume kept fading in and out at random intervals. Second, the interpreter had a head cold. So there would be a section of interpretation, followed by a round of nose-blowing over the microphone. Comedy gold, I say!

All in all, it was a delightful service, and one that would have hated to miss. After the service, we toured their facilities, and shared a great lunch of soup and sandwiches. Mmmm, comfort food.

We are trying to figure out a way for Bas, who is Dorina and Arian’s 15 year old son, to come over this summer and work with Marshall in the Solid Rock camps. That would be great if we could pull it off.

Back on the train, and pulled into Amsterdam about 2:30. At 4:00, Eva came to get us to go to Zolder50’s Sunday evening service. We walked just over the road (meaning about a mile and a half) to the temporary site that Zolder is holding services at. Once you get there, you have to follow a winding corridor to get to the room. No easy to find locations here in Amsterdam.

After the service and some hanging around time for tea and coffee, we went to a restaurant at the top of the Open Bare Bibliotheek of Amsterdam, which is the main and largest public library in the city. (this is where I emailed you from earlier.) This place is an architectural marvel. Completely modernistic in design and function, it is truly a marvel. And the restaurant is café style, meaning that you can get anything from soup and sandwich to Thai food or artisan style pizza. But best of all is the open balcony that you can go out to eat on. From the balcony, you can see out over the entire northern side of Amsterdam. The view is nothing less than astounding. So we enjoyed a great meal out there with a lot of the Zolder50 folks. To say that it was memorable experience does not do it justice.

So now I am back in the Prins Hendrik bar, listening to some British guys talk about their day and finishing this email to you. Tomorrow is a train ride south to Zeist for a meeting with Hans Kuijpers from the Dutch Willow Creek Association.

I’ll write again tomorrow night.

The four of you are my heart…

Dad

Monday the 1^st.

In the hotel room.

I’ve got a few minutes before we are heading out to an Indonesian restaurant for our Amsterdam debriefing. I’m a little sad that this is our last day in Amsterdam, but I am looking forward to the England part of the trip.

The day started with a train ride south to Zeist for a meeting with Hans Kuijpers from the Dutch Willow Creek Association. Hans has been to Woodcrest several years ago, and has met with Pieter several times. Zeist is a beautiful town with amazing houses and landscaping. The Dutch WCA offices are on the campus of a bible college that has been around since the late 1890’s. It was originally a boarding school for boys, and was taken over by the Nazis during WWII to house their troops. After the war, it became a bible college and remains so until today. To show you how authentic the building is, I had my first experience with a toilet that requires you to pull an overhead chain that empties a ceiling mounted tank to get it to flush.

The meeting was productive. It looks like our best avenue for making further connections may be to develop a deeper relationship with the Depijler folks, and possibly have Pieter return in February to speak at the Dutch Innovative church conference. Hans was also talking to Marie about possibly taking her skills to lead worship for a conference of churches in Belgium. (Belgium is primarily French speaking.) Marie is a little tentative about taking on the task, but we all encouraged her to pursue and not to wait. Marie dubbed me her official American butt kicker. I promised that I would keep after her until she took the opportunity.

After we rode the train back from Amsterdam, we had a few hours free. Crystal had to finish writing a paper, and the rest of the team decided to go to Harley World. I don’t really care for the Harley stuff, so I took the time to ride the tram to the Rijksmuseum. Hannah, I was thinking of you the entire time. The museum is home to the largest collection on works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other Dutch artists in the world. It is also situated on a square with beautifully manicured grounds and gardens. I had two hours just to tour the museum and have some quiet time to myself. Just what the doctor ordered…

For our last night in Amsterdam, we went out to this amazing Indonesian restaurant. Marie joined us, as she has for the entire trip. We processed our experiences, and laughed hard.

We decided to walk back to the hotel (about 20 minutes) and enjoy the energy of Amsterdam one last time.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to Marie at the end of the night. I don’t know if you guys know, but her mom was diagnosed with cancer within the last month. So being with us was like being with her “other” family, and it helped her a lot. And having her with us felt complete, like the team was back together again.

We had to turn in early, because we have to leave the hotel by six a.m. to make our flight to Birmingham.

I love you all more than words can express…

Dad.

Tuesday the 2^nd.

9:15 am( in the air to Birmingham)

I’m looking back over what I have written so far. I have promised at least twice to get this sent, but the speed of the trip has not allowed it. Today should be a slower day, primarily getting set up in Birmingham and preparing for our meetings with Chris Stoddard all day tomorrow and the conference on Thursday. We do get to have supper with Nick Whittome, Chloe, and the boys tonight. I am really looking forward to that. My main goal for today is to get this sent to you!

Love,

Dad

Friday the 5th

7:55 on the train from Birmingham to London

No you didn’t skip a section, this is the first update I have worked on since the plane ride over from Amsterdam.

Tuesday in Birmingham began with taxi rides from the airport to our hotel here in downtown Birmingham. Tuesday did not have any official meetings on the agenda, so after we settled in we went walking around this downtown area. Right across the street from us is the world famous “Rag Market,” which is an enormous area of enclosed booths and small shops, run primarily by immigrant families. On up the street is the Bull Ring area, which is a blocks of mid to high end shopping. This whole midtown area is described as City Centre. I’ve learned that downtown Birmingham (population about 1 million) is organized in the concentric circles of activity, commerce and residential.

For lunch we ducked into a pub that some of the team knew about called Shakespeare’s. I had“full English”, which is a full English breakfast of toast, ham, sausage, fried egg and beans w/ HP sauce. At only 2 pounds ($4 currently) it’s the best deal in town.

After lunch, the women wanted to tour the Cadbury Chocolate factory, which is here in B’ham. The story of Cadbury is pretty interesting. Birmingham was the center of the industrial revolution here in England,. Cadbury was noted for being extremely progressive in terms of treatment of their workers, with innovations like sick days, pensions, etc. The “factory” is more of a showplace, instead of an actual production line. All in all, a fun time.

Later in the evening, we had supper with Nick, Chloe, George, Simon, and Adam Whittom. They are all doing great with Nick entering his last term in Bible college. Chloe is also taking classes as well. Mom and Chloe are two peas in a pod. Both are creative, tinkerers, love to do project work around the house, believe that they can build anything with 2X4’s and hot glue. She is really wonderful. Ask me to show you all of the sign language that George was teaching us. George is 5 (and one half, he was quick to point out), Simon three, and Adam 18 months. The boys are beautiful and completely fun. Nick and Chloe said that there was a 50/50 chance that they will be able to come to Columbia in December. Afterwards we grabbed some groceries so that we can have breakfast in the room and save some time and money.

Since today was slower than any day so far, fatigue and homesickness kind of caught up with me today. Early to bed for a full day tomorrow.

Wednesday the 3^rd.

Meeting with the RUN folks.

This is the most important day that we have had, and the most that God seemed to be most present. In fact, it is so hard to describe that I will need some time to process it all. I’ll fill you in when I get home. No new insights, just a lot of confirmation of things that we had already been thinking about. Ask me about St. Martin’s, Pall, Jeff, Breathe, Trefor, Nick Cuthbert, Richard Sudworth, and artisan pizza. Far too big to wrap my mind around right now.

For supper, we went out to a pub called the Newt with Stewart and Dawn, and Pastor Steve and Lizzie Shepherd. Fish and chips in an English pub with the FC football on the TV. One more stereotypical experience to check off of the list.

Pieter and I went over our teaching session in the room, and had a good talk about the events of the trip. Early to bed, because we have a very early start tomorrow.

Thursday the 4^th

Conference day

This morning was easily the most motivated morning of the trip. NO HOT WATER! The water was not just cold; it was grinding, toothache cold. But…I…got…it…done!

A walk up to the Birmingham Christian Center. Pastor Peter Parent was our host, as well as Dennis. The conference attenders were great. Very engaged. Our sessions went very well. Good engagement and great questions.

The conference ate up most of the day, so after supper we went back to the hotel to rest, recoup, and teach Steve and Lizzie how to play Oh Heck!

One interesting cultural lesson this evening…while we were teaching Steve and Lizzie to play cards, we kept explaining about the trump card and the trump suite. After about an hour, in her gentle, posh English accent, Lizzie informed us that “trump” was English slang for …fart.

It’s good to be an American…

Love you wildly! Only two days until home…

Dad.

Friday the 5^th

Friday the 5^th

Today starts out leaving for London via trains. A really pleasant ride once we get out of Birmingham and out into the country. Once we get into London, I get my first experience on the Tube. The tube is everything I was told it was. You have to move quickly and you have to know where you want to go. You also have we willing to drag your luggage up and down a whole line of stairs.

Finally we end up at Victoria Station, and walk three blocks to the hotel. Dump off our luggage, and back to the station, to the Tube, and finally out to the trains. We make a change at Clapham Junction, which I believe is one of the stations that Thomas the Train works out of. And yes, I have a picture.

When we finally got to Poole, Pastor Steve met us at the station along with Stewart (), a friend in ministry, and took us on a tour of the area. Poole and the entire Bournemouth area is a tourist destination there in the south of England. Some absolutely beautiful parks and very expensive real estate, and, as with many tourist destinations, there is also the other side, where locals live a generally lower standard do living.

Stewart took us all to the beach at Poole, and we spent a glorious hour and half walking along this beautiful beach on a picture perfect day, sunny and in the sixties. You could see the Isle of Wight out in the water, and my head was full of music from Free, Taste, Hendrix, etc.

We then had a Coke out on the Bournemouth pier, and Stewart filled me in on his ministry to Estonia.

Later we went to the Poole Quay, and enjoyed the mixture of working and pleasure boats. Tons of sailboats as far as you could see. Gorgeous.

Then we went to the Waters Edge church that Steve pastors. The folks there love on us to a ridiculous degree, and it was fun to put faces with a lot of the names that I have heard about. Steve served our group communion, and prayed a blessing over each of us. Pieter then served the Waters Edge folks communion. They then circled up around us, praying (in tongues) for us and blessing us to no end. My heart was a full as it could be by the time that we had to leave to catch our train back to London.

On the two hour train ride back to London, we broke out the cards again and processed what had been an amazing day.

Feeling greatly loved,

Dad

Saturday the sixth

Today is our tourist day in London. We got up early and made our way over to Buckingham palace. Took lots and lots and lots of photos but no sightings of the Royal family. Just lots of other tourists taking lots of photos. Then over St. James Park to enjoy the beautiful scenery there. God was definitely smiling on us as we enjoyed a second beautiful day in a row, which is unheard of at this time of year in England. The tube station was under construction, so that led to taking a different route that we had originally planned. We eventually made our way over to Big Ben. From Big Ben , we made our way over to the London Eye. The Eye is basically an enormous Ferris wheel that was built by British Airways. It's roughly 10 stories high and consist of a series of perfectly clear pods that house about a dozen people. The Ferris wheel moves are at about the speed of an elevator , so the ride itself is completely nonintimidating. What's great about it that you can slowly riding the eye to the very top. And on a perfect day like we had today you have a 360° view of the entirety of London. You're over the Thames . You can see all the major sites and it is absolutely breathtaking. For anyone visiting London I have to recommend riding the Eye.

After the Eye we made our way over to be Covent Garden area. Covent Garden is a great area with numerous shops and restaurants. But the most engaging character of Covent Garden's is the number of street performers in the area. The enjoyed mimes and jugglers and comedians. Some of us specifically were drawn into participating in the shows. Probably one of the best parts of the entire day was to be sitting there and enjoying an artisan pizza and a cup of coffee while soaking up the ambience. After Covent Garden's we made our way to St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul is absolutely breathtaking inside. However they do not allow photographs to be taken. What they did allow is for you to choose to climb 434 steps to go to what they call the Stone Gallery. The Stone Gallery is at the bottom of the dome of St. Paul's. What you're up there you have an amazing view all the way around London. From that point you can then choose to climb another 152 steps up to the gallery which is at the top of the dome of St. Paul's. To go all the way up to the gold dome was breathtaking (literally) and was so worth the trip. The view is astounding. Just tackling all those stairs to reach the top of St. Paul's was in itself satisfying. The whole event reminded me of the movie The Way of the Rose where you see Sean Connery weaving his way down the passageways and stairs in the Old Abbey. Imagine that on a large scale, and you have some idea of what it is to climb to the top of St. Paul's.

After St. Paul's made our way over to the Tower of London Bridge. Lots of pictures. The fatigue was finally starting to set in. We had supper in a great pub called the Hung, Drawn and Quartered. This provided an opportunity to debrief the events of the day and reflect on the experience. Finally, the day ended on a perfect note as we got to see the stage production of Wicked. I hadn't been to think major stage production since I got to see the Blue Man Group in Chicago several years ago. In case you don't know, we did is the story of the witches in the movie the Wizard of Oz. The two leads, Glinda and the Wicked Witch were absolutely amazing. The production itself was out of this world. Again it was the perfect ending to a picture-perfect day.

Well tomorrow is back on the airplanes for a long ride home. I cannot imagine they are more satisfying trip than the one which we have had. My traveling companions were great to hang around with, everyone was on their best behavior. And we made the kinds of contacts that I think will serve us well in the future. Even more exciting is the possibility that we may have found a route to contribute what's have to offer in the European theater.

Definitely, one of the best trips I've ever enjoyed in my entire life.

Not like "War of the Worlds"

I had one of those "Twilight Zone" moments yesterday morning. After I had dropped my girls off for school, my plan was to head straight into the office. I had a ton of work piled up, and I thought that I would skip breakfast and just get these tasks knocked out.

But, the growling in my stomach and a quick check of the time convinced me that it would be a better idea to go ahead and grab some breakfast. Besides, nothing helps me to alleviate stress like bacon and a chance to read the entire newspaper.

So I pulled into Lucy’s Diner, and I grabbed some quarters out of my ashtray. On my way in, I put my change into the USA Today box. There was one newspaper left. And I looked at the date. September 11. Up until that moment, I had not even thought about what day it was.

That’s when I realized that this was the exact same routine I had followed on the morning of the 9/11 attack.

In 2001, Lucy’s was called Ron’s Country Boy. (Same place, same food, though.) And I had just dropped my girls, who were both in elementary school, off for the day. And I remember feeling pressured about the amount of work needing to be done. And I remember reacting to the feeling by deciding to head out for breakfast.

As I walked into Ron’s on 09/11/01, everyone was gathered around the counter. The radio was blasting the local talk radio station (KFRU) louder than normal. So I grabbed a booth and started to look at my USA Today.

I don’t remember if someone asked me, or if I asked someone else what was going on with the radio. But I do remember learning that a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. I wondered if it was a small commuter plane, or a larger commercial plane. I wondered what kind of mechanical malfunction could cause such a catastrophic loss of control over a plane.

Then the news came about the second plane. The second hit. And reports of an attack in Washington D.C.

My brain and my heart wanted to reject what I was hearing. It seemed like the incident in where they broadcast H.G. Wells War of the Worlds over the radio, and people thought that the radio play was actually happening.

Except that this really was happening.

So as I went into Lucy’s to get my breakfast yesterday morning, I made sure not to sit in the same booth.

Come to think of it, I never have sat in that booth again…

Another older blog that I moved

Mixed in with all of the great things about entering into my 40's, there is one thing that is a definite downer…

A lot of my most important influences are dying.

When Kurt Vonnegut passed away , I was not surprised. But I am sad.

So what does an East Coast based, WWII serving self professed liberal, confirmed agnostic writer have to do with a kid raised in the Midwest who ends up being a pastor? In a lot of ways, everything.

The first of Vonnegut's writings that I remember was a commencement speech that he gave at Cornell University. It was reprinted in one of those awful "Parade" like Sunday newspaper supplements. And I thought that it was one of the funniest things that I had ever read. So I found the book that the speech had been compiled into, Palm Sunday. And every speech, and short story, and article in the book was better than the one before it. And a big part of me felt like I had found someone who was speaking in my voice, because I wasn't ready to yet.

Vonnegut was fiercely intelligent, outraged by world that he saw around him, funnier than you, and desperate to believe that there was some sort of better way to live, that people could somehow rise above what they were currently accepting about and expecting from the world around them.

After Palm Sunday, I found a copy of Slaughterhouse Five. And the things that had only been hinted at in the short writings came into hi-def. Wildly pissed off at the capacity of people to destroy other people (in the way that only people who have lived through carnage like the firebombing of Dresden could be) offended by the trite answers and platitudes offered as justification, and offended and amused by his own limitations…this was the most "human" writing that I had ever read. I was hooked.

I have read everything that the man wrote. In January of this year, I picked up my copy of Slaughterhouse Five again and re-read it for the umpteenth time. And it was more powerful than the first time that I read it.

I feel like I felt when Johnny Cash died. Sad, but exhilarated by the gift that I felt like he left behind. And deeply moved by his influence. So do yourself a favor, and discover this amazing man for yourself.

Here's some places to start:

http://www.vonnegut.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/002-1259292-6125660?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=kurt+vonnegut&Go.x=6&Go.y=6&Go=Go